Examination of Witnesses (Questions 60-79)
JOBCENTRE PLUS
26 JANUARY 2005
Q60 Mr Field: Four years ago the
Social Security Committee reported on this very topic and was
pretty scathing. In response the Government said it was resolutely
going to change its performance. I wonder whether I could ask
you about the three main findings of the Social Security Committee
and compare them with the findings of the National Audit Office
Report on how you are conducting the Social Fund now. The first
main finding of the Social Security Select Committee was that
Social Fund applicants need more active and informed assistance
from staff. Yet we find in this Report that the awareness of staff
is poor, customers are still not informed of the types of awards
and information on Social Fund debt is not easily obtainable.
What progress have you made then in the last four years on this
main recommendation which you accepted?
Mr Anderson: There are some key
changes which have either been made or are in the pipeline in
order to help—
Q61 Mr Field: You say it is in the
pipeline, but this was four years ago.
Mr Anderson: Some of them are
changes to systems which take some time. One of the key things
on Budgeting Loans was announced in the Pre-Budget Report which
was a removal of the so-called double debt rule, which is one
of the things that customers find very hard to understand and
that will be implemented. We have changes planned in the computer
system which will allow us to have all the loans on the system
and that is due for delivery in 2006. Some of these things have
taken some time, but they have been addressed.
Q62 Mr Field: May I just ask who
is in charge of the computer system?
Mr Anderson: I am.
Q63 Mr Field: Is it an in-house job?
Mr Anderson: Well, we are responsible
indirectly; it is contracted out. The operation of it is contracted
out.
Q64 Mr Field: To whom was it contracted
out?
Mr Anderson: EDS.
Q65 Mr Field: If it does work, would
you come back specially and tell us, because we would really like
to be able to record a first for EDS. Sorry, I interrupted you
with the excitement of knowing the computer system was going to
deliver.
Mr Anderson: In fairness the operation
of the Social Fund computer system is very reliable and is not
subjected to some of the difficulties in some other systems that
we operate, which I know have exercised the Committee.
Q66 Mr Field: It is just that my
heart sank; my poorer constituents have enough trouble in their
lives without having to deal with EDS again. It makes it more
of a lottery than I thought. Sorry, Mr Anderson, I interrupted
you.
Mr Anderson: At the beginning
of 2003 we implemented a Social Fund Focus Group which is led
by one of our deputy field directors and aims to draw together
best practice from across Jobcentre Plus and to make sure that
the staff know about it. They have made significant progress.
We have implemented a new set of Key Management Indicators for
the Social Fund within Jobcentre Plus. We used to have just one
indicator which was around the clearance times for Community Care
Grants: we now monitor that for all Social Fund payments. We have
seven management indicators where there used to be one.
Q67 Mr Field: And that comes in when,
Mr Anderson?
Mr Anderson: That is operational
already; it came in at the start of this financial year, so April
last year. We have included Social Fund performance in our mainstream
Mystery shopping programme. Whereas previously Social Fund was
not specifically an element of our key service assessment it now
is.
Q68 Mr Field: When did that come
into force?
Mr Anderson: At the beginning
of this year. The letters for notifying customers about their
payments were changed after a full review in 2002.
Q69 Mr Field: That came into effect
when?
Mr Anderson: In 2002. We have
introduced access to the Social Fund by telephone, which will
gradually make a difference.
Q70 Mr Field: And that started when,
Mr Anderson?
Mr Anderson: Last year[7].
We had to get new regulations to allow the loans to be done by
telephone. Our immediate plans are to introduce the standard operating
model which I described, which I think will make a big step forward.
Q71 Mr Field: Would it be fair to say
that although there is one change in 2002, the thought of coming
before the Committee with a National Audit Office Report supporting
you concentrates the mind wonderfully on fulfilling commitments
which the Department made in 2001?
Mr Anderson: I am sure the Department
entered into the commitments with a recognition that they would
help improve service for customers. I certainly accept the recommendations
in the current Report and am committed to making sure we implement
them.
Q72 Mr Field: May I go on to the
second undertaking you gave to the Select Committee in 2001. The
Committee expected to see a significant reduction in administrative
errors and your response as a Department was that you would meet
that. Yet if we look at this Report, which Mr Steinberg has already
commented on, it says there is a high number of initial decisions
in some types of award which still contain errors. Nearly half
of the cases for Funeral Payments and Crisis Loans come into that
category. Could you remind us what the error rate was in 2001
Mr Anderson and what you have now improved it to? If not, might
we have a note on that?
Mr Anderson: I do not have that
statistic to hand. I will provide a note[8].
Q73 Mr Field: It would be very helpful.
The third main area where you promised to improve markedly was
to reduce the staff turnover in the Benefit Agency. There are
obviously difficulties, which Mr Sheridan touched upon, with the
numbers that you are having to get rid of in the service by government
edict, but how significant has the reduction in turnover been
since you gave that commitment to the 2001 Report?
Mr Anderson: The current staff
turnover in the benefit processing area is not broken down by
the allocation of staff to a particular task; it is only broken
down by grade. Therefore I cannot answer that question.
Q74 Mr Field: Might you give us a
note on what the turnover generally was then, in 2001, compared
with what it was when this Report was compiled?
Mr Anderson: Certainly[9].
Q75 Mr Field: My last question is about
the Contingency Fund which you hold centrally which the Chairman
raised. Can you tell us how large that is?
Mr Anderson: Yes. I believe it
is a million pounds and I will just check. I am told that is correct.
Q76 Mr Field: A million pounds. In
the West Country last year we had that flooding. I should have
thought that would have scooped the pile, would it not?
Mr Anderson: I was monitoring
Social Fund applications during the course of that flooding. There
was increased activity, but it was in the tens of cases and not
in the hundreds or thousands. Clearly, I suspect the vast majority
of people who were affected had other means and were not benefit
claimants or Social Fund customers.
Q77 Mr Field: Or did not know about
the Fund.
Mr Anderson: Or did not know about
the Fund.
Q78 Mr Field: Or the staff did not
know about the Fund or the extra money they might call down.
Mr Anderson: We did actually provide
out-of-hours service on the day that those things arose and people
were made available locally to help and local offices would have
been very well aware of the contingency fund at that point when
it was arising.
Mr Field: If we could have a note on
those two points, Mr Anderson, that would be helpful. Thank you.
Q79 Mr Bacon: I just have one or
two questions about the computer. How confident are you that the
Social Fund computer system will be fit for purpose by April 2006?
Mr Anderson: The change I referred
to in changing the system is due for implementation in the year
starting April 2006. We would expect that to come in, at the latest,
in October, based on our current plan and I am confident that
that will be delivered.
7 Note by witness: Legislation to allow Crisis
Loan applications by telephone was in fact introduced in October
2002; the facility has been introduced incrementally across the
country since that date. Back
8
Ev 13 Back
9
Ev 14 Back
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